The play is inspired by ‘The Ten Ox Herding Pictures’, which is considered to be the most famous description of the path of the Zen enlightenment, whose author was the Chinese Zen master Kakuan Shien from the period of the Sung Dynasty.

The story explicitly states 10 stages a man has to go through in taming and uncovering the ego and ego-programme impressed deep inside every one of us. It’s actually a guide showing the way to anyone who seeks actual awakening of his true, original nature and attaining the primeval freedom.

THE PERPETUUM DANCE COMPANY

The Centre for the Art of Movement Perpetuum was founded in 1999 in Belgrade, as an independent, non-profit art organisation, with the main objective of providing support to creative efforts and education of the youth in the field of contemporary dance. The Centre has, since the very beginnings, been putting an emphasis on the different kinds of skills, present in different degrees in the art of dance today, offering its members a wide range of choices, thus creating a solid base for further individual exploration and advancement. The Centre offers workshops dedicated to: contemporary dance, classical ballet, jazz dance and yoga.

Special attention is paid to the work with children and youth who have higher aspirations towards the contemporary dance art and expect to be recognised and supported in their creative efforts.

As a result of such conceptualisation, the Centre formed its own dance troupe at the very beginning, naming it the Perpetuum Dance Company. It presents the educational and creative work of the Centre in the best possible way, at the most prestigious national and international stages.

Besides this activity the Centre is oriented towards cooperation and networking with the dance community in our country and the world.

On the path of achieving the true freedom
“... In the motion which starts with a search, through a dance where actually one personality is split into its external and internal essence, Ana and Marija Obradović, equally remarkable young dancers, find life paths on which they ‘catch’ and ‘tame’ the imaginary bull, i.e. all that is represented by their appearance, only to overcome their own inherent duality, the self in oneself, and return, following the paths of awakening, to their true original nature. On those paths, their personalities split first in a soft dance with reduced movement, which builds up to reach the point where each one rejects everything that has been leading them astray from the focus, and finally, to the harmony of the very well chosen musical pieces from Japan, Tibet, China and India, they return reborn to the world and keep at least a piece f the unattainable primeval freedom.

It is quite understandable that this performance relying on the tradition which is neither a religion nor a philosophy, neither psychology nor a science of any kind – such Zen is – is aimed at depicting, without words but not in a mute silence either, the duality of human nature which finds its harmony in a unique understanding of freedom. This was successfully carried out, so, besides the choreography by Svetlana Đurović and the extremely disciplined and visually efficient dance of the twins Ana and Marija, nicely conceived costumes by Ida Ignjatović, with a contribution of other dedicated associates, the Perpetuum Dance Company has enriched our diverse contemporary dance scene with this serious piece, which points to the cognitive essence of the human being, which has preceded conscious actions – both now and then.”
Milica Zajcev